Issue
Earthly Power and the Christian
Vol. 30, No. 6 • Nov/Dec 2021
Not contentedness but more power; not peace but war; not virtue but fitness.” So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche in his Der Antichrist. For most Christians, such a bold assertion will sit ill at ease for them, to understate the matter. This push for power by means of might and combat is not easy to marry with […]
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Letter from the Editor
Not contentedness but more power; not peace but war; not virtue but fitness.” So wrote Friedrich Nietzsche in his Der Antichrist. For most Christians, such a bold assertion will sit ill at ease for them, to understate the matter. This push for power by means of might and combat is not easy to marry with […]
The Debt
Benjamin Franklin is famous for saying, among many other things, that the only two certainties in life are death and taxes. If he were writing today, I suspect he might want to alter one of those terms—not so much death and taxes, but debt and taxes. Debt has become as much a part of our […]
“Head and Heart”
by Herman Bavinck translated by Gregory Parker Jr. This essay was originally published in 1892 by Herman Bavinck in the yearbook of the Dutch Youth Association (Nederlandsch Jongelings-Verbond) as “Hoofd en Hart” (“Head and Heart”).(1) Formed in Amsterdam in 1853 as a result of the Réviel,(2) this association of young males between eighteen and thirty-five […]
Christian Culture Is Over: Why We Need St. Augustine, Not St. Abraham
There’s this town I know that’s got great public spirit. Boy Scouts is a big deal. The country clubs are nice. The Rotary Club owns the town, they say, and the Kiwanis runs it. The United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Cathedral, and the big Presbyterian Church are full on Christmas and Easter. The Republicans and […]
Power, Politics, and Public Life: Reframing How Christians Engage in Culture
On Power He was a man who had stumbled into a little bit of power and seized it with both hands. She’d known that within the first few hours of his arrival, when he’d chosen the best room and gathered up the warmest blankets for his bed, when he’d taken all the pillows in the […]
From Orange to Pink: A History of Politics and Religion in South Africa’s Cape Town
As South Africa’s second-largest metropolis (after Johannesburg), Cape Town not only has a rich history but is also a melting pot of scenic views, cuisines, and skin colors. She boasts incredible beauty but also thrombotic veins of prejudice and inequality, which are still fed by the painful legacy of the failed social experiment of racial […]
Ethics and Culture
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Reacting to Viral Dechurching & Exvangelical Stories
“Here’s what I love about Jesus. Jesus actually knows that the church is broken and imperfect and falls short. But the difference between us and Jesus is we see that and we use that as a justification to abandon the church. Jesus sees the church, as broken as she is, and on the way as […]
Nine of the Most Notorious Heretics
The word heresy is closely associated with the idea of schism, breaking off from the church, and theologians have made a distinction between formal and material heresy. Formal heresy is a stubborn denial of vital Christian doctrine—those who have heard the truth and then rejected it. Material heresy is what happens when a person embraces a false doctrine out of ignorance.
Why Poor Stewardship of the Body Can Be an Act of Unfaithfulness
The beautiful thing about this [sixth commandment] requirement is that it highlights that God cares about you. He cares about your body. He knows you’re made of dust. He knows that we need a good night of rest. We don’t have to feel guilty for getting it. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows […]
Imputed Righteousness and Self-Made Identity: The Crisis of Justification in Our Church Culture
This presentation analyzes the crisis of justification in today’s church, tracing its biblical foundations, reformational clarity, and modern challenges.
